Metal-ammonia reduction

A useful alternative to catalytic partial hydrogenation for converting alkynes to alkenes IS reduction by a Group I metal (lithium sodium or potassium) m liquid ammonia The unique feature of metal-ammonia reduction is that it converts alkynes to trans alkenes whereas catalytic hydrogenation yields cis alkenes Thus from the same alkyne one can prepare either a cis or a trans alkene by choosing the appropriate reaction conditions... 

The stereochemistry of metal-ammonia reduction of alkynes differs from that of catalytic hydrogenation because the mechanisms of the two reactions are different The mechanism of hydrogenation of alkynes is similar to that of catalytic hydrogenation of alkenes (Sections 6 1-6 3) A mechanism for metal-ammonia reduction of alkynes is outlined m Figure 9 4... 

The mechanism by which the Birch reduction of benzene takes place (Figure 118) IS analogous to the mechanism for the metal-ammonia reduction of alkynes It involves a sequence of four steps m which steps 1 and 3 are single electron transfers from the metal and steps 2 and 4 are proton transfers from the alcohol... 

Catalytic hydrogenation of the 14—15 double bond from the face opposite to the C18 substituent yields (196). Compound (196) contains the natural steroid stereochemistry around the D-ring. A metal-ammonia reduction of (196) forms the most stable product (197) thermodynamically. When R is equal to methyl, this process comprises an efficient total synthesis of estradiol methyl ester. Birch reduction of the A-ring of (197) followed by acid hydrolysis of the resultant enol ether allows access into the 19-norsteroids (198) (204). 

Two factors of paramount importance in understanding the chemistry of metal-ammonia reductions are the acidity of the reaction medium and the relative rates of all reactions possible with a given combination of reagents. The control or appreciation of these factors permits one to achieve a certain degree of selectivity in metal-ammonia reductions in spite of the vigor of the reducing agents. 

The term Birch reduction was originally applied to the reduction of aromatic compounds by alkali metals and an alcohol in ammonia. In recent years many chemists have used the term to include all metal-ammonia reductions, whether an alcoholic proton source is present or not. The author prefers to use the term Birch reduction to designate any reduction carried out in ammonia with a metal and a proton donor as or more acidic than an alcohol, since Birch customarily used such a proton donor in his extensive pioneering work. The term metal-ammonia reduction is best reserved for reductions in which ammonia is the only proton donor present. This distinction in terminology emphasizes the importance of the acidity of the proton donor in the reduction process. 

A remarkable feature of the Birch reduction of estradiol 3-methyl ether derivatives, as well as of other metal-ammonia reductions, is the extreme rapidity of reaction. Sodium and -butyl alcohol, a metal-alcohol combination having a comparatively slow rate of reduction, effects the reduction of estradiol 3-methyl ether to the extent of 96% in 5 minutes at —33° lithium also effects complete reduction under the same conditions as is to be expected. Shorter reaction times were not studied. At —70°, reduction with sodium occurs to the extent of 56 % in 5 minutes, although reduction with lithium is virtually complete (96%) in the same time. (The slow rates of reduction of compounds of the 5-methoxytetralin type is exemplified by 5-methoxy-tetralin itself with sodium and f-butyl alcohol reduction occurs to the extent of only 50% in 6 hours vs. 99+% with lithium.) The iron catalyzed reaction of sodium with alcohols must be very fast since it competes so well with the rapid Birch reduction. One cannot compensate for the presence of iron in a Birch reduction mixture containing sodium by adding additional metal to extend the reaction time. The iron catalyzed sodium-alcohol reaction is sufficiently rapid that the aromatic steroid still remains largely unreduced. 

A study of the lithium-ammonia reduction of 14-en-16-ones would extend our understanding of the configuration favored at C-14 in metal-ammonia reductions. Although several simple 14-en-16-ones are known, their reduction by lithium and ammonia apparently has not been described in the literature. Lithium-ammonia reduction of A-nortestosterone, a compound that structurally is somewhat analogous to a 14-en-16-one, affords roughly equal amounts of the 5a- and 5 -dihydro-A-nortestosterones. " This finding was interpreted as indicating that there is little difference in thermodynamic stability between the two stereoisomeric products. 

An isolated acetoxyl function would be expected to be converted into the alkoxide of the corresponding steroidal alcohol in the course of a metal-ammonia reduction. Curiously, this conversion is not complete, even in the presence of excess metal. When a completely deacetylated product is desired, the crude reduction product is commonly hydrolyzed with alkali. This incomplete reduction of an acetoxyl function does not appear to interfere with a desired reduction elsewhere in a molecule, but the amount of metal to be consumed by the ester must be known in order to calculate the quantity of reducing agent to be used. In several cases, an isolated acetoxyl group appears to consume approximately 2 g-atoms of lithium, even though a portion of the acetate remains unreduced. Presumably, the unchanged acetate escapes reduction because of precipitation of the steroid from solution or because of conversion of the acetate function to its lithium enolate by lithium amide. 

Toluene is a useful co-solvent in metal-ammonia reductions as first reported by Chapman and his colleagues. The author has found that a toluene-tetrahydrofuran-ammonia mixture (1 1 2) is a particularly useful medium for various metal-ammonia reductions. Procedure 8a (section V) describes the reduction of 17-ethyl-19-nortestosterone in such a system. Ethylene dibromide is used to quench excess lithium. Trituration of the total crude reduction product with methanol affords an 85% yield of 4,5a-dihydro-17-ethyl-19-nortestosterone, mp 207-213° (after sintering at 198°), reported mp 212-213°. For the same reduction using Procedure 5 (section V), Bowers et al obtained a 60% yield of crude product, mp, 196-199°, after column chromatography of the total reduction product. A similar reduction of 17-ethynyl-19-nortestosterone is described in Procedure 8b (section V). The steroid concentration in the toluene-tetrahydrofuran-ammonia system is 0.05 M whereas in the ether-dioxane-ammonia system it is 0.029 M. 

The 17-ethylene ketal of androsta-l,4-diene-3,17-dione is reduced to the 17-ethylene ketal of androst-4-en-3,17-dione in about 75% yield (66% if the product is recrystallized) under the conditions of Procedure 8a (section V). However, metal-ammonia reduction probably is no longer the method of choice for converting 1,4-dien-3-ones to 4-en-3-ones or for preparing 5-en-3-ones (from 4,6-dien-3-ones). The reduction of 1,4-dien-3-ones to 4-en-3-ones appears to be effected most conveniently by hydrogenation in the presence of triphenylphosphine rhodium halide catalysts. Steroidal 5-en-3-ones are best prepared by base catalyzed deconjugation of 4-en-3-ones. ... 

J. E. StaiT, Metal Ammonia Reductions of Steroidal Enones, Saturated Ketones, and Ketols in Steroid Reactions, C. Djerassi, ed., Holden-Day, Inc., San Francisco, 1963, Chapter 7. 

The benzyl 1C methoxy group is then removed by metal-ammonia reduction. Alkylation with p-nitrophenethyl bromide would then give the intermediate 78. Reduction of the nitro group would thus afford verilopam (79). The same... 

Scheme 159) [549, 550]. Temperature and electrolyte concentration are found to have a profound effect on the reaction rate. The Bu4N(Hg) can be used for the reduction of -estradiol 3-methyl ether and the reaction has been shown to be more selective than the conversion methods based on alkali metal-ammonia reduction [551]. 

The synthesis of the furan (176) and its conversion into the triester (177) as an intermediate in the synthesis of fujenoic acid have been described. " The metal-ammonia reduction of some polyfunctional tetrahydrofluorenes with the object of preparing intermediates for gibberellin synthesis has been noted. ... 

Improved selectivity has been reported for the metal-ammonia reductions of androstan-ll-one and -17-one by the incorporation of ethanol in the reaction... 

Notes This is often used as a protecting group for alcohols, where it is observed that primary alcohols form more readily than secondary hydroxy groups, which in turn are more reactive than tertiary alcohols. As with most benzylic ethers, this protecting group can be removed by hydrogenolysis over Pd or by metal-ammonia reduction.1 Examples ... 

As first demonstrated by Stork,78 the metal enolate formed by metal-ammonia reduction of a conjugated enone or a ketol acetate can be alkylated in liquid ammonia. The reductive alkylation reaction is synthetically useful since it permits alkylation of a ketone at the a-position other than the one at which thermodynamically controlled enolate salt formation occurs. Direct methyl-ation of 5a-androstan-17-ol-3-one occurs at C-264 whereas reductive methyl-... 

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